Welcome to my blog

Hello. . .

The Newfangled Country Gardener is for anyone who has a garden, would like to have a garden, or who simply enjoys eating the garden-fresh way. I don't claim to be an expert; in this blog I'm simply sharing some of the experiences my husband and I have in preparing food that is home-grown.

About the author

Kay Wheeler Moore is the author of a new cookbook, Way Back in the Country Garden, that features six generations of recipes that call for ingredients that are fresh from the garden. With home gardening surging in popularity as frugal people become more resourceful, this recipe collection and the stories that accompany it ideally will inspire others to cook the garden-fresh way and to preserve their own family food stories as well. The stories in this book center around the Three Red-Haired Miller Girls (Kay's mother and aunts) who grew up in Delta County, TX, with their own backyard garden so lavish that they felt as though they were royalty after their Mama wielded her kitchen magic on all that was homegrown. Introduced in Kay's previous book, Way Back in the Country, the lively Miller Girls again draw readers into their growing-up world, in which a stringent economic era--not unlike today's tight times--saw people turn to the earth to put food on the table for their loved ones. The rollicking yarns (all with recipes attached) have love, family, and faith as common denominators and show how food evocatively bonds us to our life experiences.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

“If this isn’t the weirdest of the weird!” . . . not an unusual comment from Hubby any more when he sits down to the dinner table and curiously eyeballs whatever “blog food” I’ve hatched up to serve him for that evening.

I believe, however, that this time his eyebrow was raised a little more than was commonplace.

A purple, shredded melange awaited him. When he asked, and was told, what constituted the dinner selection, he looked even more askance. “Red cabbage, green cabbage, a red onion, a Granny Smith apple . . . ”, I explained.

We dined. Well, not only did Hubby help himself to a second serving, he returned to have Mystery Dish for lunch AND snack the next day. “Do you care if I eat the whole thing up?” he finally implored. I had scored a coup, no doubt about that.

The Mystery Dish was entitled Supple Cabbage Salad; quite frankly I prepared it as a means of using up leftovers. I saw that the recipe called for 3 cups shredded red and 3 cups shredded green cabbage. Half-heads of cabbage languished in the produce bin of my fridge; I was eager not to waste them. Granny Smith apples and red onion we always have around. I knew my paperback booklet, “Celebrating a Healthy Harvest”, would have a suggestion for these items; sure enough, it did. Nothing makes me feel more virtuous than when I figure out ways not to waste food.

I can’t say that the result was exactly a salad. Prepared in a skillet it definitely tasted better warm than it did cold. We heated it up in the microwave alongside the Chicken Cutlet with Pecan Sauce leftovers we had from our Easter entree.

I was with Hubby, however—difficult not to keep going back for more and more and more. No problem with doing that either, however. A single serving probably contained all of about 40 calories. If you can get past the “If this isn’t the weirdest of the weird!” reaction, it’s surely a dream dish!

Supple Cabbage Salad

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium red onion, sliced thin

3 cups shredded red cabbage

3 cups shredded green cabbage

1 large Granny Smith apple, cored and diced

1/4 cup cider vinegar

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Heat oil in wok or in frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and cabbage. Stir-fry for two minutes. Cabbage should be slightly softened. Add vinegar and pepper; boil for one minute. Remove from heat, stir in apple, and serve. Makes 6 servings.

Click the book cover above to open a PDF of "When the Heart Soars Free"

Previous Events for Way Back in the Country Garden

June 25, 2010 (Friday): Live interview on "Arizona Midday", Channel 12, KPNX, Phoenix. On live TV Kay will prepare a dish from Way Back in the Country Garden.

July 10, 2010 (Saturday): Booksigning for Way Back in the Country Garden at Prairie Rose Flowers & Gifts, 211 West Dallas, Cooper, TX , just across from the Delta County Courthouse. Kay will sign books from 10 a.m. to noon. Snacks prepared from recipes from the cookbook.

July 3, 2010 (Saturday): Booksigning for Way Back in the Country Garden at The Generator coffeehouse, 107 N. 6th Street, on the square in Historic Downtown Garland, TX. Kay will sign books from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Cookies prepared from recipes from the cookbook.

About Me

Kay Wheeler Moore is a Pulitzer-Prize nominee who stirred up her heirloom cornbread from "Way Back in the Country" on live TV while she promoted preserving family history through recipes. Her other previous books are "When the Heart Soars Free", a book of Christian fiction, and "Gathering the Missing Pieces in an Adopted Life", based on her Houston Chronicle newspaper series.